Thrust-bearing for shafts.



Patented May I, |900.v

No. 646,661. n

A. P. 666B: A THRUST BEARING FOB SHAFTS.

(Application lad Oct. 11, 1899.)

(No Model.)

A TTOHNEY.

l Shafts, of which the mittcnt; and' the' particular vide a bearing of the class mentioned which z Atnuu'r r. Gunmen NEwvLo'NnoN, CONNECTICUT.

THRUSTLBEARING FOR sHAFTs..

srEeIFIcATIoN forming part of Letters Pai-.ent No. 648,661, dated may '1, 1900.

Applicant nea october 11.1e99. sminamento. momia To nJZ 1071 om it mny/ coneerm 13e it known that I, ALBERT l. GEEN, acitizen of thc' U nitcd States, rcsidin g at New London, in thecounty of New London and State of Connect-icut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thrust-Bearings for following is a full, clear,l and exact description. y

This invention is in a class of bearings designed for use in connection with propeller and the like shafts which are subject to great cndwise pressure, either continuous or interobject is to proshall be of such construction that it shall act as a cushion to receive the said endwise prossure or thrust of the shaft, and thus do away withthe strain and jarring that would otherwise be present. The said device is also of .ball-bearing construction,thereby doing away,

greatly with the friction of running parts.

Toassist in explaining my invention, the accompanying drawings have been provided, in wh'ich- Figure 1 is aplan view of the newly-invented bearing. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view thereof, and'Fig. 3 a crossseetional view taken on. the line l 1.

Referring to the drawings, the letter a denotes a shaft suitably supported in pillowblock bearings b andretained in such bearings by the caps b. Supported in the said pillow-blocks, on each side the shaft a and extending parallel therewith, are two threaded rods c, which latter receive and support a pair of plates d d', through which the shaft a passes. The plates d d' are held in position i on the rods c by means of nuts d2, which enshaft a being of course lar or' disk g,

gage. the opposite faces ofthe plates and by the adjusting of which the positions lof the plates d d' may be readily controlled. The shaft d bears thereon between the plates d d' a collar e, which latter is adapted to engage said plates to limit the endwise movementof the shaft, the extent of such movement of the .dependent upon the distance apart of -the plates d d'. In addition to the collare the shaft (t has` also mounted thereon a similar collar f, and adjacent to the latter the said shaft passes through a co1- supported in the following manner'z-fThe reference-letter h denotes a plate Aangles to the length similar to the plates d d' and inouuted upon the threaded rods c. 'lhe plate It has a circular opening 71,' therein, within' which the collar q is received and supported by means of trunnions g', provided on the collar g and journaled in the plate h, g' serve to axially support the c ollar g at right of the plate lq, as shown 'lhe confronting faces of the collars' j' and g are provided with ballraces f and gil, within which a ring of ballsI 7c is leated. 'l`he,collar g is heldin close contact with the collar f and the hallslc confined between said collars by means of spiral springs m, mounted on the threaded rods e and engaging the face ofthe plate h opposite that confronting the collarf, the said springs being confined between the plate h and nuts fn., mounted upon the threaded rods c. By the manipulation ofl the nuts n. ilicfdistancd" between the lat-ter and the plate 71. may be readily increased or diminished and the ten` sion of t-he springs on thus readily controlled.

Assume that a shaft is fitted up with my newly-invented bearing and that the same is under pressure or su in the direction of the arrow in Fig. l. Under the conditions just recited the pressure of the shaft in the direction indicated causes the collarf, having the-ring of balls k'intermediate itself and the collar g, to transmit corresponding pressure to the collar q and to the plate h, that supports said last-named 'col-4 lar, and from said plate h the pressure is finally received upon the springs :n which latter provide a cushion by yielding sufficiently to do away with any strain or jar that might be brought to bear upon the shaft a., such jar or strain being particularly noticeable in the case of propeller-shafts, in which the cndwiso pressure or thrust is apt to be of an intermittent nature.

The nuts n are usually set up suilicieutly to produce such tension upon the springs m that the latter will not conditions; but shonldany unusual pressure occur which the springs m might not be able to withstand the collar e will, after a slight endwise movement, come into contact with the plate d, vwhich latter `will serve to prevent anyfurther movement of the shaft'a. 1t should be particularly noted in this connection that.

in the drawings.

which said trunnions bject tosudden thrusts yield under ordinary ICO `While a cushioned Veect is had upon the shaft: by -the 'yielding of the springsm, thc end wise .or thrust action of the shaft islimited and that a rigid thrust-bearing in. both directions is provided-.to Wit, by the rigid disk d in one directionandby the rigid disk d in thetop- .posite direction. .i

In order that the collar g shall .be Aat all times at right angles 'to the shaft a and paralle! with the collar f, the said collar gis trunnioned in' the plate h, as above explained, so

,'.fithatno accurate .adjustment of the plate 71l is necessary in 'order to retain the collar hl in proper position relatively to the collar f and ized. y

sothat the pressure" upon the entire ring of balls shall at all ti mes be automatically equal- When the shaft is under.pressure inthe di;

.recti'oniof the arrow, the ring' of .balls k inter- .l

mediate the cellars if and y serves to do away n vlwith the major portion' ofthe f riction which would,exist were the said vcollars in contact vreason ofthe ball-bearing thus provided'. My newly-invented device as a Whole is of .very simple construction, very easily opervyitir yeach other, and incidentallythe shaftv 'runs morefreely and .requires less ,power by ated, is not expensive to produce, and per forms inv a very satisfactory manner the oiico "maattentati-aange@ea,

'v Having `thnsdescribed my invention, I claim- 1.. In combinationwith a suitably-.journaled shaft, a iixedA collar as at e mounted upon said shaft, yrigid plates mounted upon opposite.

mediate the confronting faces of the said col-f la'r and disk; i

In combination, a journaled shaft having fixed collarsf e, a spring-controlled frame',

- a disk trnnnioned in said` frame, a ring' of' -balls rintermediate the confronting. faces `of `coliarf and the trunnioned disk,and means for limiting the endwise movement of the said` collar e.

4Signed at Norwich, Connecticut, this 28th day of Scptember,1899. K. y

. ALBERT P. Gann. f l Witnessesi.

` FRANK Il. ALLEN,

Msi F. RITCHIE; 

